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A Man for All Seasons features arrogant royals, manipulative politicians, and shady religious leaders. We're talking the Hypocrisy Olympics here, ladies and gents. Set in 16th-century England, the play follows the huge controversy surrounding King Henry VIII's desire to divorce his wife Queen Catherineāa move that would eventually result in the formation of the Church of England. Weird, huh? As you can imagine, this situation goes anything but smoothly, and the resulting hypocrisy displayed by England's aristocracy shows us how even the greatest people can be corrupted by their own power.
Henry's boat tour displays his hypocrisy because it shows the distance between his self-image as a rugged individualist and the reality of him as an all-powerful regent.
Norfolk, as representative of the British aristocracy as a whole, reveals his hypocrisy by changing his beliefs simply because the King told him to.